This article lists he athletic team records but the first year in the PAc-12 has
meant so much more to the University of Utah, Salt Lake City, and the State of
Utah.

Our First year as a member of the PAC-12

Academically: The James L. Sorenson Molecular Biotechnology Building was
dedicated (cost $130 million); A school of Denistry was approved to begin next
year (A donation of $30 million was given if the school was started); and the
S.J. Quinney School of Law building will be replaced with a 50% larger building
(cost over $60 million).

Athletic improvements: New
construction began on the athletic complex (cost $30 million; new outdoor tennis
courts and complex (cost $2 million) and a new soccer field (cost $2 million - I
believe).

This list is not meant to be comprehensive and is only
meant to provide a glimpse of the benefits of PAC-12 membership. The
University of Utah is proud to be a member of the PAC-12 and commit ourselves to
earning the conference member's pride is us as well.

It's been a good transition year for Utah in the Pac-12. We now know where
the Utes stand in their new conference. Now Utah can build upon the foundation
they have set in their first year in the "Conference of Champions".
Obviously football and gymnastics are the strengths and will be competing for
conference championships before the rest of the sports catch up. Basketball is a
mess! But Utah does have a strong basketball history. They'll be back! The
Pac-12 prides itself on the Olympic sports and Utah has a long ways to go to
compete in those sports. Let's go to work and make year 2 in the Pac-12
better than year 1. Go Utes!!!

Yes, BYU would have fared alot better than the Utes in the
PAC 12, overall, but especially in basketball and football. Bronco doesn't
lose to bad teams - Kyle loses to them all the time.

Playing
Utah's schedule, BYU would have beaten all of the PAC 12 teams with losing
records that Utah played - Colorado, Washington, or ASU at home, and Arizona,
OSU, and WSU on the road.

Even with losses to USC, California and
possibly UCLA, BYU would have finished 7-2 or 6-3 in the conference, good enough
to win the PAC 12 South. Utah would have been an OOC loss. After winning the PAC
12 South, BYU would have lost in PAC 12 championship game and won their bowl
game to finish 11-3 or 10-4, ranked about 25th in both polls, just about where
BYU finished with their "WAC" schedule.

Nothing to feel disappointed about for Utah. I'm a BYU fan, and no, Utah
didn't blow anyone away. Fact is they showed they were beneath the typical
Pac-12 level. But the reality is that so are Washington State and Oregon State,
and yet they've been in the conference for decades. Utah will be fine. They
were always going to get creamed in the Olympic sports. That's the strength
of this conference. That's why it is the "conference of champions."
The Pac-12 is competitive in football and basketball with some power programs,
but more often than not they're not the elite conference in those sports.
The SEC and Big-10 are traditionally more powerful in football and the ACC, Big
12, and Big East are traditionally better basketball conferences. But no
conference touches the Pac-12 in Olympic sports.

The reality is that
perception will always be driven by football and men's basketball. Utah did
respectably in football and will be better this year. Basketball... was a joke.
Let's hope that improves. But it wasn't a start to be embarrassed
about and it should only get better

@PACman - how does any football team finish 8th in a 6 team division? The DN
won't post comments that are insulting to individual but they will allow
anyone to make up statistics in their posts.

Utah has the lowest
athletic budget of any PAC 12 school and both the school and the fans knew it
would take time to compete in an elite conference. So what. It is great to be
in a highly competitive conference, fans of the other in state schools only wish
that was the case for their teams.

This just shows the huge gap between small ball of the WAC, MWC, WCC conferences
and the big boys. Our middle to lower placed teams would all be in the top half
and champions in the lower leagues. Utah loves the challenge and is committed to
growing all the programs.

PAC man. As a Utah hater, you love that
Utah iis having growing pains. As a huge Utah homer, I love that fact that we
have to get better in all sports. It will make victory that much sweeter. I know
that you wish your team was in a great conference. They prefer to play down in
stead of up. Makes some feel better I suppose.

This isn't as much about Utah being terrible as it is the Pac 12 being
exceptional.

@PAC man ... "BYU would have fared alot better
than the Utes in the PAC 12, overall, but especially in basketball and
football." Football? You're DELUSIONAL. Get real.

@slcftball

I think your comment about BYU would have "fared the
same if not worse" was probably directed at football ... but if you're
thinking Olympic sports, I'd disagree.

As a Ute fan I can
readily admit BYU has several programs that have been successful for years.

BYU track programs, men's volleyball (Utah doesn't have of
course), are both consistently great. BYU's baseball team and golf team are
usually better while Womens volleyball, softball, basketball and soccer are
pretty much equal. The tennis and swim teams are also about equal. The only
sport Utah clearly dominates is gymnastics and Utah has always had an excellent
Ski team, which I don't believe BYU even has.

Bottom line, BYU
and Utah are pretty equal but BYU has a few more sports that consistently
perform at higher levels.

What Utah is now sadly finding out, is that they can't claim superiority by
simply riding the Coat-Tails of others.

As we have said many times,
there is Not One Program among Utah's 20 or so, which can realistically
ever hope to win a Conference Championship, save perhaps Gymnastics, and UCLA
has been smoking Utah for nearly 20 years there also.

Utah's
record of competitiveness was not impressive when compared to BYU's in the
MWC or old WAC, where BYU won nearly half of all League Titles for nearly 40
years.

BYU has produced more All-Americans by a 5-1 margin, than
Utah.

Utah just recently installed a track, having spent the last 30
years at West High Schools facility.

Baseball is played Downtown.

The fact remains, Utah is Dead Last in Athletic Budgets in the Pac, even
Wazzu out shines Utah by 10 million per year.

Utah's Stadium 2nd
smallest.Huntsman....Empty.

Utah ranks only 10th in Academics,
124th Nationally....BYU 71st..

As was stated earlier, Utah should
just put the Pac 12 Logo on their Helmets, because the Teams won't be
Actual Champions anytime soon.

PAC man guesses "Playing Utah's schedule, BYU would have beaten all of
the PAC 12 teams with losing records"Doubtful.This year is
BYU's toughest schedule yet with {gasp} five BCS teams. You really think
BYU would have had the energy to play 9 BCS schools? Of course, BYU saved up a
lot of energy by quitting in the 3rd quarter against Utah. Maybe they could
have saved up some more energy by quitting against USC too.

"Playing Utah's schedule, BYU would have beaten all
of the PAC 12 teams with losing records that Utah played..."

Last
season, you played 2 Pac-12 teams. You STRUGGLED against Oregon State [who the
Utes beat soundly], and you got POUNDED by the Utes on your own Homefield.
You're frantic and emotional boast is based entirely on unfounded fantasy,
and sans legitimate support basis. My post is based entirely on what actually
happened. Case closed. You lose.

EdGrady said "The Utes "Peter Principled" themselves. They promoted
themselves to their level of incompetence."

I know you're
making a funny dig at the Utes, but that's exactly why I think the Cougars
will stay independent. They can't afford to take on too big of a
challenge. Their goal is exposure. As an independent, they can craft a
schedule to end up 9-3 or 10-2. That keeps them on the radar. That gets them a
chance to finish in the top 25 on somebody's poll.

Is the
competition great? Not really. But there is a smattering of "name"
teams so that Cougar fans can remember things like "Oh that is the year we
played Texas". The memory of a couple of "name" teams will help
them forget the "no-name" teams that will grace LES in November for
years to come.

Crafting a mediocre schedule to get into the Top 25 isn't a problem for the
Utes - the PAC 12 does it for U. The Utes simply failed miserably to take
advantage of their mediocre schedule.

Six of Utah's nine
conference opponents finished with LOSING records, yet the Utes only managed to
beat four of the six, losing to two losing teams AT HOME, including to 3-10
Colorado, one of the worst teams in the country - rated #107 by Sagarin.

In order to get "on the radar", you actually have to beat the
mediocre teams on your schedule.

The Utes barely slipped past #56
Georgia Tech in the Sun Bowl, while in the Armed Forces Bowl, BYU beat #35
Tulsa, a team ranked higher than any PAC 12 team on Utah's schedule, except
for USC, which was on probation.

btw, Utah hasn't had a road win
over a PAC 10/12 team with a winning record since the 90's.